This article recommends embedding behavioural economics into all market research, instead of seeing it as a separate methodology and demonstrates ways of looking at the way we use language in order to spot biased thinking. View Summary

This article recommends embedding behavioural economics into all market research, instead of seeing it as a separate methodology and demonstrates ways of looking at the way we use language in order to spot biased thinking. It provides six recommendations to look at behavioural economics holistically, including don't take briefs at face value; look at actual behaviour rather than recall or intentions; and take context into account.

This paper argues that traditional indicators of financial behaviour are flawed, and that in Eastern Europe, in particular reference to Poland, psychological factors are more important. View Summary

This paper argues that traditional indicators of financial behaviour are flawed, and that in Eastern Europe, in particular reference to Poland, psychological factors are more important. Traditionally financial behaviours are explained using demographics (e.g. age, gender) and economic factors (e.g. income). However, psychological factors, such as an enjoyment of physical money, should also be taken into account in explaining financial behaviours. This paper reviews the results of several studies which correspond to these psychological factors and show how important it is to take them into consideration when trying to explain or understand financial behaviours. A review of the studies is followed by results of an international study conducted in 19 countries, showing cross-national differences in financial attitudes. Finally, it is explained how psychological factors underlie attitudes and behaviour connected to smart shopping.

While there are a number of studies focusing on the motivations for betting, less is known about the extent to which the market is segmented. View Summary

While there are a number of studies focusing on the motivations for betting, less is known about the extent to which the market is segmented. This study investigates patterns of cross-purchasing using a sample of 7,200 adult respondents from a government survey dataset obtained via the UK Data Archive. In doing so, we apply market research techniques to a social research domain, and demonstrate the usefulness of publicly available government survey data to (social) market researchers. While we find some patterns of cross-purchase that are broadly the same as would be predicted by the duplication of purchase law, we also identify clear partitions in the market, implying the existence of behavioural segments. We identify five distinct behavioural segments, each with its own demographic characteristics. Our results have implications for the managers of betting companies, and for the design of future studies into gambling behaviour that could potentially inform public policy.

This data was matched both to self-described behavior during visits/use of branded apps, online behaviors captured during navigation and conversion and in-person observations of people using the different personal communication plat- forms listed above.

The data demonstrated that consumers have stronger emotional responses to their site visits/branded app use when the visit is conducted on a mobile platform than other platforms.

One aspect of these polarity response effects is that consumers believed brand messages were more trustworthy when received on mo- bile devices than on other personal communication devices.

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The power of the dark side: Motivation, positioning and the seven deadly sins

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Shobha Prasad, ESOMAR, Qualitative, Valencia, November 2013

The dark side of human motivation is explored in this paper which postulates that the most powerful drivers are primeval human passions. View Summary

The dark side of human motivation is explored in this paper which postulates that the most powerful drivers are primeval human passions. Brands that understand and position themselves sharply on these are able to influence and connect strongly with consumers. The authors use the gramework of the "Seven Deadly Sins" to identify the primeval forces that are powerful enough to drive behaviour. Through this research, they analyse the drivers that influence which categories and brands appeal to young professionals in India and suggest the model as a tool to understand motivation and brand positioning.

This paper explains how MasterCard, the financial services company, used research to better understand online purchasing and payment behaviour. View Summary

This paper explains how MasterCard, the financial services company, used research to better understand online purchasing and payment behaviour. Despite the vast amount of data generated regarding consumer behaviour when purchasing online, the picture is incomplete. This paper identifies two gaps - intention and emotional response - and describes research methods that aim to fill these gaps. The research helped MasterCard to develop the positioning for their online payment services, taking into account how consumers feel and how they buy.

This paper examines research by Microsoft, the software company, which explores how new technology is creating new sources of 'big behavioural data' and how this means research organisations must revolutionise the way they work. View Summary

This paper examines research by Microsoft, the software company, which explores how new technology is creating new sources of 'big behavioural data' and how this means research organisations must revolutionise the way they work. Combining behavioural and perception data deepens understanding of consumer behaviour and the effect of advertising, increasing the value and influence of market researchers. It is argued that the researcher's traditional role as a data 'farmer' that curates and harvests information will change to create data 'miners' who explore and synthesise.

Despite the growth in the number of brands with a presence on social media such as Facebook and YouTube, questions remain about how to conceptualise and measure people’s experiences with brands’ content on social media, and how to measure the value of people’s behaviour around such content to brands. View Summary

Despite the growth in the number of brands with a presence on social media such as Facebook and YouTube, questions remain about how to conceptualise and measure people’s experiences with brands’ content on social media, and how to measure the value of people’s behaviour around such content to brands. By interrogating quantitative data garnered from 6,400 respondents we sent to Facebook pages belonging to 27 brands across six brand categories during June 2011, this paper presents an overview of how we designed two sets of metrics, and some of the findings from these metrics: (1) a series of ‘value of experience’ metrics based on the likelihood of people who claim to have had positive experiences with a brand’s content on Facebook to say they are likely to do different social media, purchase funnel and brand advocacy actions for that same brand; and (2) a series of ‘value of a fan’ metrics that measure the likelihood of people who say they are likely to do different social media actions on a brand’s page (such as post positive comments or share content) to say they are also likely to do different purchase funnel and advocacy actions for that brand.

This paper offers a semiotic analysis and cultural exploration of masculinity in India, providing a comprehensive examination of the codes that have defined Indian masculinity from antiquity to the present day. View Summary

This paper offers a semiotic analysis and cultural exploration of masculinity in India, providing a comprehensive examination of the codes that have defined Indian masculinity from antiquity to the present day. The analysis draws on history, popular culture, sociology (impact of the caste system), religion, and emergent Indian feminism. It also focuses on the implications of today's conflicted Indian masculinity for businesses and marketers, as they develop culturally relevant brand positioning and communication strategies.

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Why People Pass Along Online Video Advertising: From the Perspectives of the Interpersonal Communication Motives Scale and the Theory of Reasoned Action

This paper is exploratory research that highlights the use of mobile phone technology in airline marketing in Egypt. View Summary

This paper is exploratory research that highlights the use of mobile phone technology in airline marketing in Egypt. Airlines are currently investing in the field of mobile commerce as a way to exploit the opportunities offered by this new wave technology. Mobile marketing is expected to be a key player in airline operations in the next five years. The spreading use of m-commerce in air travel will vary between markets according to aspects related to consumer behavior and attitude. This paper highlights the opportunities offered by mobile phone technology in the airline industry and derives its most significant implications in achieving airline marketing goals. EgyptAir customers were taken as a research sample for this paper with an aim to explore their attitude toward the use of mobile phones in their air travel experience. The primary findings confirm that airline mobile services in Egypt are more information oriented rather than process oriented. The research also identifies the most significant airline mobile service features.

13

Reality Check: Re-establishing context at the heart of intelligent research

Rural markets have always been a challenge for market researchers. Conventional tools applicable in urban areas are not directly adaptable in the rural setting. View Summary

Rural markets have always been a challenge for market researchers. Conventional tools applicable in urban areas are not directly adaptable in the rural setting. With the emergence of rural markets in terms of brand awareness, and the shift from nominal decision-making process to a more extensive decision-making process, more innovative research tools are required to capture data about rural consumers in a more effective way. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) is one tool that does precisely that. The tool itself, however, has evolved over time and has recently caught the attention of rural market researchers for commercial projects. The tool has so far been limited to application by NGOs for the implementation of either government projects or donor NGO-funded initiatives. This paper strives to highlight the evolution of PRA as well as its interpretation by MART (India’s leading rural market research firm) in terms of one commercial project undertaken for a telecom player.

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Social-Media Early Adopters Don't Count: How to Seed Participation in Interactive Campaigns by Psychological Profiling of Digital Consumers

Consumers’ active and discretionary use of social media is influenced by a myriad of individual attributes. View Summary

Consumers’ active and discretionary use of social media is influenced by a myriad of individual attributes. Which of these attributes really matter and how do they matter? This article proposes an exploratory structural-equation model comprising five constructs (“Big Five” personality dimensions, motives, involvement, content preferences, and usage) derived from the cognitive-affective personality system theory and 3M model of motivation and personality. Applied to a survey of 656 YouTube users, the findings indicated that participation in social media can be understood parsimoniously as oriented toward the self (individualist) or others (relational). The psychological profiles obtained suggest that relational-oriented consumers make a better target group when seeding a campaign than early adopters, as the former are more likely to generate word-of-mouth, and can be targeted by messages emphasizing informational learning.

This paper from TNS in South Africa looks at the disconnect between the respondent-level and aggregate-level behaviour of consumers in market research. View Summary

This paper from TNS in South Africa looks at the disconnect between the respondent-level and aggregate-level behaviour of consumers in market research. The authors examine five years of actual purchase behaviour, with a focus on the consistency of consumers' purchasing, and find great variations in how much people spend with a brand over time. Overall, a large proportion of spending on a brand comes from people who only give it a small 'share of wallet'. So brands that employ holistic strategies to cater to different shoppers with different share of wallet values are likely to attract both more transient customers and loyal customers that stay with them longer.

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The 'irrationalisation' of surveys: Using behavioural economics to improve research results

This paper argues that survey techniques which reflect behavioural economic insights, such as discrete choice modelling, outperform traditional techniques for predicting real world behaviour, such as the monadic test. View Summary

This paper argues that survey techniques which reflect behavioural economic insights, such as discrete choice modelling, outperform traditional techniques for predicting real world behaviour, such as the monadic test.

Specifically, it claims that the monadic test, which is used to assess the probable success of innovations like new positioning, is flawed as consumers can be subject to influences that change their behaviour in unpredictable ways.

The paper outlines both approaches and the outcome of tests used to demonstrate the effectiveness of discrete choice modelling.

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The difference between 'less bad' and 'much better': Helping conjoint to live up to its promises by leveraging 'behavioural economics'

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Florian Bauer, ESOMAR, Congress, Atlanta, September 2012

This ESOMAR paper looks at how to integrate behavioural economics insights with conjoint analysis, thereby making predictions more valid while maintaining the core advantages of conjoint analysis. View Summary

This ESOMAR paper looks at how to integrate behavioural economics insights with conjoint analysis, thereby making predictions more valid while maintaining the core advantages of conjoint analysis.

More generally, the authors argue that results can only be improved by merging conjoint analysis with other research disciplines, rather than merely attempting to develop even better conjoint analysis.

They also discuss a 'General Algorithm for Patching Conjoint Analyses' tool that corrects the main cognitive and motivational distortions which occur in conjoint analysis.

This paper argues that not only is it possible to conduct market research without asking questions but it's also the best way to understand what people do. View Summary

This paper argues that not only is it possible to conduct market research without asking questions but it's also the best way to understand what people do.

It covers behavioural economics, observational and ethnographic research, social media research and innovative qualitative techniques in order to show the possibilities of research without questions.

It also provides a unifying framework for considering behaviour and decision making, a series of studies conducted across these areas by BrainJuicer and a selection of cases from Allstate Insurance that work with these techniques.

It is an implicit tenet of qualitative market research that it is possible to find out what the consumer ‘really thinks’. View Summary

It is an implicit tenet of qualitative market research that it is possible to find out what the consumer ‘really thinks’. Our research language reflects this – we talk about ‘depth’, ‘probing’ and ‘getting under the surface’ of otherwise superficial consumer responses. This underlying assumption has a questionable intellectual pedigree, however. As qualitative researchers, we should, in contrast, be more concerned with understanding the processes and structures that determine how consumers think. If we understand these processes and structures we will be more able to identify how brands are constructed by consumers and how the meanings of brands are created.

In order to improve the effectiveness of store brand management, this study presents a meta-analysis that aggregates empirical findings from the literature on consumer behaviour towards store brands. View Summary

In order to improve the effectiveness of store brand management, this study presents a meta-analysis that aggregates empirical findings from the literature on consumer behaviour towards store brands. First, the study provides a quantitative summary of bivariate findings regarding the way consumer-related factors influence store brand success. Second, the authors analyse the moderating effect of market context, product category and data type on store brand success. The resulting analysis suggest that price consciousness, quality consciousness, familiarity with store brands and perceived quality of store brands are the four most important factors that significantly influence consumer behaviour towards store brands. Market context and product category also exert significant moderating effects on the influence of some factors on consumer behaviour towards store brands. On the basis of these findings, this study concludes with a discussion of practical implications and possible directions for future research.

Traditionally product assessment before and after its launch has relied primarily on verbalisations and surveys; these methods offer great insight regarding consumer's opinion and cultural perception. View Summary

Traditionally product assessment before and after its launch has relied primarily on verbalisations and surveys; these methods offer great insight regarding consumer's opinion and cultural perception. Recent research in neuroscience contributes to this perspective, adding new tools to analyse how pleasure mechanisms predict and generate expectations. It also facilitates the understanding of how reward is involved in purchase behaviour and brand loyalty and can be used to evaluate product competitiveness even before its launch.

Consumer research has demonstrated that emotions play an important role in the decision-making process. View Summary

Consumer research has demonstrated that emotions play an important role in the decision-making process. Individuals may use consumption or purchasing as a way to manage their emotions. This research develops a model to help explain the process by which individuals engage in consumption to manage their emotions, and examines the efficacy of an advertisement for a hedonic product that uses affect-laden language to stimulate such a process. Results suggest that favourable emotional responses from an advertisement can lead to positive attitudes towards the advertisement, prefactual thinking in the form of hedonic rationalisations and greater behavioural intentions. Additionally, guilt from consuming and purchasing these hedonic products can be mitigated, which is also associated with greater behavioural intentions. Findings have implications for marketers and advertisers of hedonic products.

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Mobile: The future of marketing in Asia Pacific - Can marketing research cope?

This paper examines the central and changing role of mobile in consumers' lives across Asia Pacific. It is underpinned by a combination of mobile passive meter monitoring (mobile clickstream), quantitative analysis of Asia Pacific's online and mobile phone user populations, and ethnographic research. View Summary

This paper examines the central and changing role of mobile in consumers' lives across Asia Pacific. It is underpinned by a combination of mobile passive meter monitoring (mobile clickstream), quantitative analysis of Asia Pacific's online and mobile phone user populations, and ethnographic research. It also discusses the likely impact of mobile on both marketing and market research in the region.

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Imagine that we can test imagination! An integrated bio-qual approach to test TV ads on a concept level

The presentation describes the process of integrating traditional pre-testing methods with neuroscientific ones, which are based on brain waves (EEG), skin conductance (SC) and eye-tracking (ET) measurements. View Summary

The presentation describes the process of integrating traditional pre-testing methods with neuroscientific ones, which are based on brain waves (EEG), skin conductance (SC) and eye-tracking (ET) measurements.

Study results are discussed with regard to the role of the emotions in advertising and the utility of combining biometric and qualitative measures for predicting brand decisions.

Also shown is how such a joint effort has helped the client - Heineken International - to better understand consumers' reactions and to make important decisions for the brand.